Harry Potter and the Surprise Adoption
by FirenIce15
Summary: During the Dursleys' Dinner with the Masons,they discover that Harry is severely abused and decide to adopt him. This one act changes all of their lives in ways none of them ever imagined.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter and the Surprise Adoption

Summary: The Masons discover that Harry is abused during the summer before his second year. Refusing to leave him there, they adopt him as their son. This changes things in more ways than Harry ever imagined.

Rating: T

Pairings: He's too young for that yet

Legal Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling not me; I am not making any money from this

Notes: Assume first year happened according to cannon unless stated otherwise. Also I am American and have never been to England and what little I know about it comes from watching BBC America so I apologize in advance for any mistakes.

Chapter One

Jennifer and David Mason had been driving away from the Dursley's house after that horrid dinner…both Masons dearly wished to forget the entirety of it, the idiot boy who had asked to take coats they didn't have (really who wore coats on a warm, dry summer night)the fake small talk, the cake all of it. Anyway, about a little more than five minutes after they left Jen realized that she had left her purse behind

"My Purse!" she exclaimed. Practically her whole LIFE was in that purse, her wallet, her checkbook, her driver's license and credit cards; she NEEDED to get that purse back.

That was all David needed to hear, he drove the car into the nearest driveway, did a K-turn and sped back toward the Dursley's house.

Once there Jen told her husband to keep the car running and dashed into the house, in her haste she neglected to ring the doorbell…the Dursleys had also not bothered to lock the front door yet.

She headed straight for the living room where she last remembered having her purse.

When she arrived she saw the horrifying sight of Vernon Dursley holding his nephew by the hair and bashing him into the wall repeatedly…said wall was smeared red with the poor boy's blood. Now Jen would admit that the boy deserved to be punished for dropping the cake on her but this was outrageous and she wouldn't stand for it!

"What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled

"Mrs. Mason, what are you doing here?" Vernon demanded in turn

"Never mind that, why are you abusing that poor boy?!" She demanded back

"Poor boy? This freak ruined my dinner, just like he ruins everything, it's HIS ruddy fault his worthless parents are dead to begin with, I'm giving him a lot less than he deserves." Vernon declared

"How can you say such horrible things about your own flesh and blood?!" Jen responded "Never mind, I don't care! I am getting him to the hospital right now. By the way my brother's a highly decorated police officer and if you try and stop me I WILL have you arrested on assault charges! Now MOVE!"

Vernon did so reluctantly

"Can you walk?" she asked the boy gently

The boy didn't respond verbally but he slowly pushed himself up and for the first time Jen got a good look at him. His face was covered in blood, Jen was no medical expert but she suspected his nose was broken. His chest was red with blood and one of his knees seemed to be injured as well. She could also tell that every movement caused him considerable pain

"Here lean on me" Jen and shifted herself so she was next to the boy

The boy muttered something along the lines of "I don't want to bleed on you."

"Nonsense" Jen scolded, "I can wash my clothes, now come on."

Slowly the boy…abruptly Jen realized she had no idea what his name was leaned against her and they made their way slowly (so as not to further exacerbate his injuries) toward the front door. On the way, Jen managed to grab her purse from the couch where she'd left it when she had sat down to wait for dessert.

Finally they reached the car and Jen helped the boy into the front seat, despite his attempts to get to the back.

David tried to ask what was going on multiple times but Jen ignored him and the boy only muttered unintelligibly.

"What is going on?!" David demanded loudly as his wife slid into the back seat

"Never mind just drive to the hospital." Jen ordered

"But-"David tried but Jen cut him off

"Explanations later, DRIVE NOW!" Jen insisted

David glanced at the boy bleeding out on the front seat and admitted that he did look like he urgently needed medical attention. So he drove to the hospital as quick as he could without risking killing them all in a car crash.

Once they got to the Hospital, they thankfully didn't have to wait long for before the boy was taken back to be treated, his injuries were the most severe of any patient in the waiting area so he got priority.

Unfortunately Jen and David were not allowed to go with him since they were not his legal guardians…a situation Jen wanted to rectify as soon as possible but first she had to talk David into it.

"David…I think we should adopt him." Jen stated

"Adopt him?" David exclaimed

"Yes, I can't let him go back there; who KNOWS what they will do to him next time…they might have killed him if I hadn't gone back for my purse!" Jen responded "besides, I thought we had agreed to adopt a child anyway…since I can't have any of my own"

Jen had been born with a rare genetic birth defect that made her infertile and unable to conceive.

"Well yes" David admitted "but I was thinking of a adopting a younger child, like one around five or six, that one is like nine or ten."

"…well, I kind of wanted to adopt two." Jen confessed "I'd like to have a boy and a girl, we can afford it." It was true, David was the owner and head of a successful construction company (that was why they had been at the Dursleys in the first place, his company ran through drills rather quickly) and Jen was a skilled lawyer specializing in family and inheritance law between the two of them they pulled a six figure income every year…the fact they had several stock investments helped too. "Think of it this way, we can adopt him now and then a couple of years later when we adopt a girl, he can babysit when we aren't able to be there."

David said nothing, he was thinking.

"David, I know it's sudden but I don't think this is a coincidence, we just made the decision to adopt and now we find an abused little boy who NEEDS us, its fate."

David scoffed inwardly, he knew his wife believed in fate and destiny but he didn't, people's lives were not planned out in advance, they made their own path through effort, determination, and luck…not necessarily in that order.

"What makes you so certain he WANTS us to adopt him?" David asked

Jen blinked, the idea that he might not want to be adopted had never occurred to her. "Do you really thing he WANTS to stay there, with people who did this to him?"

"Well no" David admitted "but that doesn't necessarily mean he wants to come and live with us, we are strangers to him after all."

Jen hated to admit it but he had a point

"Tell you what, why don't ask him if he's willing to be adopted and then go from there?" David offered

Jen perked up a bit, she was confident that the boy's answer would be yes…if she was going to adopt him, she really needed to learn his name."

After a couple of hours one of the nurses came out "I'm looking for the couple who brought Harry Potter." She announced

Jen and David looked around and saw that no one else was responding to the request so Jen said

"I guess that's us." They went over to the nurse

"How is he?" Jen asked

"Legally, I can't get into too many details since you are not his legal guardians but I can tell you that his injuries are very extensive…he's suffered a lot for a long time. He'll have to stay with us for a few days at least."

"I suspected that" Jen muttered softly to herself and then she focused her attention back on the nurse "Can we see him?"

"Normally, I'd have to say no since you are not family and these are not visiting hours, however he has asked to see you…he was very insistent about thanking you personally, so we've decided to make an exemption this time, as long as you agree to keep your visit brief, by which I mean no more than ten minutes, he's been through a lot and needs to rest and recover his strength." The nurse answered

Both Jen and David nodded their agreement and so the nurse led them through the hospital to Harry's room

Jen thought the sight that greeted them inside was both one of the cutest and saddest, she had ever seen. Cute because Harry was an adorable child when he wasn't covered in blood and sad because he looked so hurt, it was wrong no child should look like that.

David took one look at his wife's face and knew fatherhood was inevitable. Jen wanted to adopt Harry and when his beloved wife wanted something 9.9 times out of ten she got it.

Jen and David seated themselves on chairs positioned on either side of Harry's bed

"Mr. and Mrs. Mason." Harry said and tried to rise and greet them properly but Jen urged him to stay down and not strain himself

"How are you feeling?' she asked once Harry had settled himself back down on the bed

"Numb, mostly" Harry responded

"Good, that means the pain killers are working" David stated

"Harry…are you happy living with your aunt and uncle?" Jen asked after a moment

Harry hesitated, he knew he wasn't supposed to answer questions like that, he was NEVER supposed to do or say anything that would paint the Dursleys as anything other than the perfect normal family…not to muggles like the Masons anyway; the Dursleys didn't care what he told wizards because they hated the freaks anyway. However, the Masons had rescued him from Vernon…Vernon had NEVER before hit him THAT hard…they probably wouldn't believe him if he lied and said he was happy and maybe, just maybe they would believe him…no one else had but no one else had such strong firsthand evidence of it either.

"No….they hate me." Harry said softly

"We've been thinking about adopting you…would you like that?" Jen asked

Harry blinked several times in surprise "Really, you want a freak like me?" he questioned

"Harry" Jen began gently "you are not a freak, you are a sweet child, and the Dursleys are the real freaks for treating you like this."

"I'd like to be your son…but there are things about me that you don't know, you might not want me if you knew everything." Harry said

"Hush" Jen ordered "I don't care if you're 'disturbed' like that fat walrus" she REFUSED to acknowledge the man as Harry's uncle, family didn't put family members in the hospital…well not deliberately anyway, accidents could happen, a person could have a car crash and family members wind up in the hospital as a result but that was different. "Claimed you are…you deserve a good home. Harry, I work as a family lawyer, I've seen abused kids before and I've always wished I could do something more for them…now I have a chance, don't take it from me, okay?"

Admittedly the majority of when Jen did was divorce cases and drawing up wills but she did occasionally come up with child abuse cases…there was NOTHING in this world she hated more than child abusers and nothing gave her more satisfaction than seeing child abusers pay for their crimes.

"Okay" harry conceded

"Great" Jen said "I'll get the process started right away…with any luck it'll be done by the time the doctors say you're ready to leave."

David opened his mouth to ask Jen why she told Harry that but the nurse arrived and declared their ten minutes were up and that they had to leave.

"Jen…I thought the adoption process takes months, what makes you think we can get it done before he leaves the hospital?" Dave asked

"That's when the child doesn't HAVE a legal guardian" Jen explained "in this case all we have to do is get the Dursleys to sign some paperwork transferring guardianship to us. I can have one of my colleagues draw them up, have them signed and submitted tomorrow, simple."

"What if the Dursleys don't sign the papers?" David asked

"Oh, they will" Jen declared darkly"one way or another, I'll get their signatures on the papers don't you worry."

Once they got to their large house, Jen called up her brother Samuel.

Samuel hated the name Samuel and insisted that everyone call him Sam, those who to be told twice… always regretted it, big time.

"Hi Sam, its Jen." Jen began

"Jen!" Sam protested sleepily "it's 2 in the morning, why are you calling me now?!"

"Because I need your help-"Jen started to say but Sam cut her off

"And this couldn't wait until daylight?"

"Well…I hadn't realized what time it was" Jen admitted sheepishly "Do you want me to call you back later?"

"No," Sam said "I'm awake now so you might as well tell me."

So Jen explained everything to him

"So you want me to call my private eye friend Jeff and have him investigate the Dursleys for child abuse while you have one of your coworkers…wait a minute you're a lawyer why can't you draw it up yourself?" Sam said

"Three words Sam" Jen responded "Conflict of interest

"Huh?" Sam asked not getting it

Jen sighed "Are you SURE you're awake because it doesn't seem like it, I can't draw up legal documents for situations in which I have a vested interest, duh"

"Oh, right, right" Sam said "anyway, then when that's done, you want me to come over to your office, pick you up and drive you over to these Dursley people and act as a witness to them signing the papers.. that's NOT how I planned to spend my day off."

"Come on, Sam…if you won't do it for me, do it for Harry, do it so that a poor abused kid doesn't have to suffer anymore." Jen urged

"Okay, okay" Sam caved "I'll do it, now stop it with the guilt trip."

"Good, see you tomorrow" Jen said and hung up

Then she finally went to bed.

The next morning Jen persuaded Melinda, the newest lawyer at their firm, to draw up the documents she wanted…well technically Melinda just typed what Jen told her to and then put her name on it but details, details. Anyway, once the documents were made, Jen called David and instructed him to come by the office over lunch so they could sign them with Melinda acting as a notary…at the point Jen remembered that they would need to bring a notary to the Dursleys as well because the documents wouldn't be official unless each signature was notarized so she drafted poor Melinda into coming along…Melinda made a mental note to never ever make a bet with Jen again, the price for losing was too high.

It was at that point that Sam arrived; Jen had called him right after she called David because she knew it would take him awhile to get over to the law office.

"Who is she?" Sam asked when he saw a girl he didn't recognize getting into his car along with his sister.

"Right, you've haven't been introduced" Jen realized "Sam, this is Melinda, one of my co-workers, Melinda this is my brother Samuel

"Don't call me that!" Sam yelled

"Right, don't call him Samuel, he prefers Sam. Melinda is going to notarize the Dursleys signatures to make them legal." Jen added

"How do you know that these people will even be home?" Sam asked

"Because we were supposed to finalize the arrangements for the drill deal today and we had agreed to meet them this afternoon though obviously the deal is off at this point." Jen explained

Sam didn't respond to that and they spent the rest of the ride in silence.

When they arrived, Jen wasted no time…she didn't want to be here a minute longer than was strictly necessary, she walked briskly up the walkway and rang the doorbell.

Petunia answered the door "Oh, Mrs. Mason, nice to see you, please come in" she said…apparently she thought the drill deal was still on. "Vernon's in the living room."

Jen stepped through the door followed by her companions.

"Vernon, Mrs. Mason is here" Petunia called

Jen decided not to wait for Vernon to waddle his way to them, she walked over to the living room where he was in the process of rising out his chair.

"Don't bother getting up Mr. Dursley" she said "this won't take long."

"I thought your husband ran the construction company." Vernon said

"He does" Jen replied "I'm not here for drills; I'm here for your nephew."

"The freak, what do you want with the freakish brat?" Vernon asked "He's not here, you know that."

"Yes, I do know that." Jen said darkly her eyes narrowed with increasing disgust for this repulsive excuse for a man "My husband and I have decided that we want to be his guardians instead of you."

"Really?" Petunia asked with a hint of eagerness

Vernon however narrowed his eyes, attempting but failing to look shrewd "How much is the freak worth to you?"

Jen was outraged that the man would be willing to sell his nephew "You expect me to BUY him? He's a child not a slave! You people are living proof of WHY people should have licenses to become parents…let me put it to you this way, you either sign guardianship of your nephew to me and my husband or I sue you into bankruptcy."

"Sue, on what grounds?" Vernon demanded

"All kinds, assault on a minor, slander, sexual harassment, there's a lot to choose from." Jen said

"You can't prove those." Vernon declared

Jen merely smirked "Are you sure of that, AND are you sure you can for all the legal fees required…I rather doubt your bank account is large enough for that."

"Now see here" Vernon yelled as he stood angrily "You think you can come into my home and threaten me! Well, let me tell you-"

"Dear" Petunia put a restraining hand on her husband's arm. She was the neighborhood gossip and as such she knew that Jennifer Mason had a reputation as a ruthless attorney, one of the best, she wasn't someone they could afford to get into a legal battle with. She turned to Jen "Look, we never wanted to the boy in the first place, he was dumped on my doorstep after his parents died. We don't want him now…why don't we just sign the paperwork and forget all this unpleasantness?"

"I am willing to do that…I don't want to resort to suing you." well she didn't want to resort to suing them in CIVIL court, she wanted them hauled before a criminal court, completely different. "But I will, if you don't sign the papers."

"And if we do, you won't?" Vernon asked

"If you do sign, I will not file any civil charges against you." Jen said levelly, confidant that they would either not notice or not care about the loophole in that sentence.

"All right, we'll sign." Vernon said

"Good, Melinda give them the papers, please."

Once all the paperwork was taken care of Vernon told Jen "You make sure to tell that freak that he better not show his face around here ever again. He and his abnormalities are YOUR problem now."

Jen decided not to dignify that remark with a response instead she ignored Vernon completely and addressed Petunia "Where are his things? I will take them with me now."

"In the cupboard under the stairs." Petunia answered

"This is it? Just this trunk?" Jen questioned when she opened said cupboard

"Yes, everything is there…well except for his bird, he keeps her in his room upstairs." Petunia responded

"Bird?" Jen asked, thinking that was an unusual pet for a boy to have

"Yes" Vernon said smirking evilly "A ruddy pigeon howls its head off all night every night."

"Where is his room?" Jen asked

"Go up the stairs and make a left, its' the last door on the right." Petunia directed

Jen nodded and turned to her companions "Can you two take this" tapping the trunk while she spoke "out to the car while I go and get the bird?"

Sam nodded and popped open the trunk. Then he grabbed one of the trunk's handles while Melinda grabbed the other and they began making their way toward the front door.

Jen then headed up the stairs. Vernon not so subtly followed her; he remembered Mr. Mason telling them about his wife's fear of birds and wanted to witness the woman shriek when she saw the pigeon.

"Oh my" Jen exclaimed when she saw the owl in the cage. She walked over to the cage "Aren't you a beauty…we don't see many of your kind here in Britain."

Vernon was shocked; this was not at all what he'd expected. He stood sputtering the doorway, Jen heard him, and she turned and smirked at him "My husband lied when he told you that I am afraid of birds, I'm actually a bird watcher. He just said that because we couldn't stand you and your horrible family for one more second."

She then grabbed the owl's cage and added "Now move aside, so I can leave and hopefully never set foot in this bland and boring house again."

Vernon moved just enough that Jen and the owl could squeeze by…barely.

Jen walked by him as quickly as she could without running. She dived into the car and since Sam and Melinda were already in, Sam pulled out of the driveway and speed off.

"I can't BELIEVE you promised not to press charges against them." Sam said once they were off Privet Drive "I thought you hated child abuse, and yet you are going to let them get away with it?!"

"Wrong Sam" Jen responded "They are NOT going to get away with anything; I only promised not to file CIVIL charges against them. Child abuse is a CRIMINAL offense and I NEVER promised not to file criminal charges…they carry far more severe sentences anyway. I don't want them to get away with just a fine; I want them behind bars for the rest of their lives."

"…you've got a sneaky little brain, you know that sis?" Sam asked

"Of course I do…that's what makes me a good lawyer." Jen replied with a smile.

That night, Jen and David went back to the hospital to visit Harry and to inform the hospital of his change in guardianship

They were greeted by the same nurse who had spoken to them the night prior

"Since you are his guardians now I can tell you everything. To start with he has several broken ribs, a broken nose and his right knee was green-sticked. Also when we asked who his family doctor was so we could get a copy of his medical records, to check if he's allergic to any medications, see his medical history etc. he told us that he had never been to a doctor before. We tested his system and found that he has gotten none of his vaccines; we will take care of that before he leaves. His glasses are not prescription…frankly; I don't know how he managed to see anything with those. He is severely mal-nourished and we found evidence of old breaks that did not heal properly."

"I suspected that his former caretakers were abusing him and what you just told us strongly suggests that I am right." Jen said "I intend to press criminal charges against them for child abuse, would be willing to testify to his medical history in court?"

"Yes, I will" the nurse said. She then gave Jen her name and contact information, she also said that she would ask the overseeing physician to see if he would be willing to testify and let them know.

About a week later, the hospital gave Harry a clean bill of health and allowed the Masons to take their new son home with them. Harry spent the whole trip trying and failing to figure out how he was going to tell his adoptive parents that their new son was a wizard. He knew he had to tell them, but he was terrified that they would freak out and send him back to the Dursleys.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When they arrived at the house, Jen turned to Harry and asked "So, are you up for a tour of the place?"

Wordlessly Harry nodded

Although it wasn't a mansion in any sense of the word, the Masons' house was a fair bit larger than the Dursleys' plus they had a pool in the backyard. It was a nice deep in-ground pool too. They entered into a small hallway. The first floor also had a living room with a large screen TV and entertainment center which included a stereo and every kind of non-hand held game system on the market, a large dining room which was only used when they had company or for special occasions. Also on the first floor there was a bathroom, a kitchen, which is where they normally ate their meals and a sun room…with an indoor spa and the last room on the first floor as a large office where David did most of his work for his construction business.

Upstairs, there was a second bathroom, Jen's study for when she had more work to do than she could do at the office and three bedrooms, the largest was for David and Jen, there was one for guests and lastly

"Here's your room Harry." Jen said as she opened the door and gestured her new son inside.

Harry stepped inside and gasped, his room was bigger than Dudley's, he had a large queen sized bed (his trunk was at the foot of said bed waiting to be opened) on the near side of the wall there was a closet and across from it there was a window. Next to the window was a bookshelf and across the room from the bed was a large desk with a computer and Hedwig's cage on top of it.

"It's a bit Spartan right now, but David and I decided that since we didn't know what kind of things you are into, it would be better to let you decorate it yourself. I put a couple of catalogs on the desk for you to look through whenever you like."

"But don't go nuts" David added

Harry looked at David not sure what he meant by go nuts

Luckily Jen picked up on this and said "Try not to go much over 100 pounds OK?"

Harry nodded

"OK, then" David began "why don't you unpack and I'll whip us up some food"

"How about Hamburgers?" Jen suggested "I want something quick, I'm hungry."

"Sounds OK to me, that all right with you, Harry?" David asked

"Yeah, that's fine." Harry

David then began to leave the room but Harry stopped him

"Wait"

Jen and David both turned to look at him

"There's something about me that you need to know." Harry said. He knew it was against the statue of secrecy to tell muggles about magic but he also knew that every muggleborn's parents knew about magic…unless they were dead so it had to be okay in this case, right. Besides, practically speaking he couldn't see how he would keep them from EVER finding out, they WOULD be living together for months after all.

"I'm a wizard" he said

Jen and David exchanged looks

"You think you're a wizard" Jen repeated slowly

David was wondering what in the world they had gotten themselves into.

"It's true" Harry exclaimed "I really am a wizard" he quickly turned and open his trunk "See, here's my wand" holding up said wand for them to see "I have robes, a wizard's hat" holding up said hat as well "and a cauldron, and flying broomstick and everything"

Still unconvinced Jen and David exchanged looks again

Seeing that they still didn't believe him, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and said "watch this" and then he put the cloak on and his body turned invisible.

Both the adults gasped in shock and surprise

"You can't see me anymore, can you?" Harry asked

"No…you really are a wizard" Jen said softly

Harry removed his cloak and said "yes, please don't hate me."

Jen immediately rushed over and embraced Harry "Oh, honey, we don't hate you."

Harry looked up at David for confirmation

"I'm still in the processing stage" David admitted but then he smiled "However, I know that I don't hate you."

"It IS a bit of a shock" Jen looked at her husband and said "I haven't believed in magic since I was a little kid" and then she turned back to Harry "do the Dursleys' know about this, is this why they hate you?"

Wordlessly Harry nodded

Jen had some R rated dialogue running through her head but she didn't say any of it, instead she cupped Harry's chin gently in her and hand so he was looking her right in the eye and said "Then its' a good thing you're never going back there."

She released him and added "Now go on, unpack your stuff."

"I'll call you when the burgers are ready." David said. Then he turned and went down to the kitchen to start cooking.

"Do you have the key to Hedwig's cage?" Harry asked

"Yes, its' on the desk next to the cage." Jen answered

Quickly Harry went over to the desk, grabbed the key and opened the cage. Hedwig immediately flew out and began flying in circles around the room.

Harry went over to the window and tried to open it but he couldn't figure out how to undo the lock

"What are you doing?!" Jen asked "she'll fly away."

"Yeah" Harry agreed "but she'll come back, she always does. She likes to hunt her own food and…I want to send some letters to my friends, I haven't heard from them all summer"

"Your friends haven't written to you all summer?" Jen asked wondering what possible explanation there could be…it had better be good.

"No, they wrote." Harry defended his friends "but some crazy house elf has been stopping all my mail. He seems to think I'll be in danger if I go back there."

Jen looked alarmed

"But I think he's probably hit himself in the head too many times. Hogwarts is the safest place in magical Britain" Harry rushed to assure her

"Tell me exactly how this happened" Jen said

Harry told her. How he walked in and Dobby was sitting on the bed, his instance on Harry not going back to school, his vague hints and how he hit himself every time he got close to revealing anything and the letters and lastly about him dropping the cake on her and framing Harry

"Hmm, now that you say that you were pretty far away to have dropped the cake on me like that, even if you had thrown it, it wouldn't have landed right on top of my head like that, it would have landed at an angle and I would have wound up with more cake on one side than the other but it didn't work that way. It does make more sense." Jen said "

"What does that have to do with the owl?" she added as she showed Harry how to work the lock on his window.

"Owl post, we use owls to carry messages." Harry said

"Can't you just call them on the phone?" Jen asked

"No, wizards don't use technology; apparently high levels of magic make electrical devices go haywire." Harry explained "Wait a minute, Hermonie's a muggleborn, and she has a phone."

"A what?" Jen questioned

"We call non-magical people muggles and a muggleborn is a witch or wizard with non-magic parents."

"It seems I have even more to learn than I thought." Jen said

"What do you mean?" Harry asked

"I've never been a mother before." Jen began "There's a lot to being a mother than I don't know. I have read several parenting books…but I don't think that being a mother is really something you can learn from a book. Now though, my son is a wizard and wizards evidently have all whole other society that I know nothing about. That's going to change, if you're a wizard, I want to know all there is to know about that world and if it's a safe place for my son."

"You think of me as your son?" Harry asked unwilling to let himself believe it. He had always wanted a family of his own, nothing in the world would make him happier and yet he didn't want to get his hopes dashed again.

"Yes, Harry. I do, that's why I decided to adopt you. You are part of my family. I understand if you don't feel the same way about me yet but I do hope that someday you will."

Then the phone rang "I'll get it" Jen called and then she dashed out of the room leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

Harry had just finished unpacking when David's voice called out "Dinner"

Harry went down the stairs and into the kitchen

The table was round. David sat at the end closest to the stove, Jen was on his right and across from her there was a place set for Harry

Harry hesitated, he wasn't normally allowed to sit and eat with the Dursley's, normally he was either not given any food at all or had to eat his food standing

"Harry, aren't you going to sit down?" Jen asked when she noticed him standing in the doorway.

Slowly he sat at the other place on the table

"I found out that we are out of rolls, so we will have to use regular bread." David said apologetically as he motioned for Jen to start passing things around.

"That's fine" Jen responded and then she grabbed the loaf of bread and took two pieces and passed it to David.

Harry was surprised by how many choices there were. David had not only cooked hamburgers, he had sliced up some tomatoes and onions, and there was also a plate of lettuce and another of bacon. He had also brought out bottles of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and horse radish sauce. At the Dursleys' it would have been bacon and bread and ketchup that's it.

Jen then began passing the other plates around, after loading her burger with the works of course. David put everything except the condiments on his burger. Harry had never been allowed to eat a plain hamburger let alone a fully loaded one (wizards didn't eat hamburgers for some mysterious reason) so he tried one plain first…it was delicious.

"So, Harry, can you show us some of your spell work after supper?" David asked

Harry swallowed his bite before answering "No, sorry but I am not allowed to do magic outside of school, its' illegal."

"Illegal, but what about the cloak you showed us?" Jen asked

"Yeah, some international restriction on underage sorcery, the cloak doesn't count. It belonged to my dad, I didn't enchant it." Harry said "…I was hoping to call my friend Hermonie and tell her what's happened, if that's OK?"

"Of course, it is Harry" Jen said

"Just don't stay up too late, you need your rest." David added "I want you in bed no later than 10 at night, understand?"

"Yes sir" Harry said in truth he didn't mind, it was later than the curfew at Hogwarts, most students wound up going to be around that time anyway.

"Harry, while we are on the subject David and I have come up with a list of rules we expect you to follow since we are living together now." Jen said "In addition to being in bed by 10, we expect you not to leave the house without telling us where you are going and when you expect to be back and yes, I WILL be calling to check. I was a kid once myself I know all the tricks. You will also keep your room clean and take care of your owl, Hedwig I believe you said her name was?"

Harry nodded but Jen didn't wait for him "No one goes into the pool alone, not you, not me or David there's no one to rescue you if something goes wrong."

She then noticed the strange look on Harry's face

"Those bastards didn't teach you how to swim did they?" David asked

Harry shook his head

"David" Jen chided "language"

"English" David responded and Jen glared at him but he ignored her and turned back to Harry

"Well, we'll fix that, can't have you not knowing how to swim, especially with the pool in the backyard. Lastly we want you to spend at least 15 minutes a day on your summer work before you either go in the pool or play on the computer or video game consoles-"

"You mean, I'm ALLOWED to play video games?!" Harry asked at the Dursleys' that had been a big no no, if anyone even suspected he might have so much as looked at them he was beaten, toys were for good, normal boys like Dudley not freaks like Harry.

"Of course, we just don't want you waiting until the last minute to do your summer work and then rushing through it and as a result getting lower grades than you're capable of. Obviously once you have all your summer work completed that rule will no longer apply" David said

"Any questions?" Jen asked

Harry shook his head, the rules seemed clear enough and not too onerous certainly he would have a lot more freedom here than at the Dursleys'.

David then got up to use the restroom

"Is something wrong, Harry, you are being awfully quiet." Jen said

"No, everything's fine." Harry replied "May I be excused, I'm full."

"All right" Jen said reluctantly. She wanted to ask him about his dad, but it didn't seem like a good time.

Harry left the room and as he was walking he passed David coming back from the restroom.

"Done already?" David asked

"Yeah…I don't have much of an appetite." Harry replied, grateful that Jen hadn't tried to force seconds on him. Hermonie had done that at school and he had wound up eating himself sick. He knew she had meant well but the Dursley's never let him eat enough and so he had a small stomach.

"Is something wrong? Is it the rules, I know it may seem a little strict-"David began

"No, the rules are fine, they are for my own good, I get it." Harry interrupted "I just, I'm not used to having someone look out for me, and I just need some time." Then he walked over to the phone while David returned to the Kitchen.

Jen was looking glumly at her half eaten burger. "Do you think we did that ok, maybe we should have waited until tomorrow to sit him down and tell him how things work around here?"

"It'll be fine, Jen. This is a big shift for all of us, it'll be better once everything has calmed down and we've gotten used to each other." David assured her

"I hope you're right." Jen sighed

Meanwhile Harry got to the telephone but realized that he didn't remember Hermonie's number so he dialed 0 and asked the information operator to connect him.

The phone rang three times and the a female voice answered "Granger residence"

"Hi, is Hermonie there?" Harry asked

"Who wants to know?" the voice responded

"My name's Harry, Harry Potter. I'm a friend of Hermonie's from school-"and then he was cut off by an exuberant

"HARRY! I didn't recognize your voice over the phone; it's SO good to finally hear from you! I thought about calling you myself but Ron told me about what happened when he tried it so I didn't think calling would be a good idea. I hope your uncle didn't give you too much trouble. I'm glad to see that you finally managed to get him to let you use the phone a little but why haven't you responded to any of our letters?"

By this point Harry had figured out that it was Hermonie who had answered the phone. "Ugh, long story. First the Dursleys locked Hedwig up in her cage, they didn't want me using her to send messages to any…one" he'd almost said wizards before remembering the were on a muggle telephone, best not to talk about magic directly if at all possible, better safe than sorry.

"Oh, that's awful! Poor Hedwig, but you should have been able to receive letters, even if you couldn't send them back. I know that I have been writing you every week and Ron told me that he was too. By the way, he said that he and his brothers were planning to come and get you soon, he wouldn't tell me how though-"

"He WHAT?! Hermonie listen, you've GOT to send a message to Ron right away and tell him not to go through with whatever it is he's planning, I'm not AT the Dursleys anymore."

"You're NOT, then where are you?!" Hermonie exclaimed

"I've been adopted by a muggle couple, Jen and David Mason-"

"Wait; is Jen a lawyer and does David run a construction company?" Hermonie asked

"Yeah, on both counts…you don't know them, do you?" Harry asked

"Not very well, myself." Hermonie answered "but Jen and my mother were roommates back in their college days and they've been friends ever since, Jen even wrote up my parents' will."

"She was allowed to do that, isn't that a conflict of interest?" Harry asked

"Only if Jen was a beneficiary of the will, but she isn't so it's fine." Hermonie replied "Mom told me that they were planning to adopt a child soon but I NEVER expected it to be you. How did that happen?"

"Well, they came over to the Dursleys' for dinner to discuss a business deal of some sort and I was sent up to my room cause neither of us wanted me there. Then there was a… house elf in my bedroom."

He then proceeded to give Hermonie the same version of events that he had given Jen. "Hmm, that's very strange. I'll do some research hopefully they have some useful books at the bookstore. Speaking of which did you get your school list yet? Ron and I were planning to meet up at the end of August to get our books and things; do you think the Masons will let you join us? How are they treating you by the way?"

"I don't see why not, I'll ask. I've only been with them for a little bit, I just got out of the hospital this afternoon but they've been nice so far. I have my own room and its' even bigger than Dudley's. They said I can decorate it however I want as long as I don't spend more than 100 pounds. They did give me some rules though." Harry explained

"What kind of rules?" Hermonie questioned

"Just a few, be in bed by 10, no going in the pool alone, before I leave tell them where I'm going and when I'll be back, keep my room clean, take proper care of Hedwig and work for 15 minutes on all my homework assignments before having fun." Harry told her

"Ohh, I like that last one." Hermonie said

"You would" Harry muttered, that was the only rule he was bothered by

"I've told you before, procrastinating doesn't do you any favors" Hermonie said, ignoring Harry's mutter "Those rules seem fair enough"

"Yeah, the homework thing is annoying though." Harry replied

"It's good for you, that way you don't have to rush through it, you will grades will improve for this, trust me." Hermonie said

"Yeah, whatever" Harry replied

"Anyway, I'm really sorry Harry but I have to go now" Hermonie said, her mother had just called for her

"Ok, that's fine" Harry responded "but don't forget to send that owl to Ron, ok? I'd send Hedwig but she's already gone, I let her out as soon as I got here, she hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings all summer."

"Don't worry, I'll let Ron know" Hermonie assured

Faintly Harry heard someone on the other end shout "HERMONIE COME HERE"

"I'd better go, bye" Hermonie said and hung up the phone without even waiting for a response.

_Later that night_

"Are you SURE this is the right house Ron?!" Fred hissed at his younger brother

"I THINK so" Ron whispered "Harry said it was number 4, but all these ruddy houses look alike, muggles are SO weird."

"Well, he's not up here" George said "Maybe he's downstairs."

The 3 Weasley boys then quietly made their way downstairs. They had a moment of panic when one of the steps creaked but fortunately the Dursleys were sound sleepers and didn't wake up.

They checked every room on the lower floor (the Dursleys house only had two floors, not counting the basement) and the basement but found no sign of Harry anywhere.

Defeated, they started heading back up the steps to their car.

Meanwhile Petunia had woken up, needing to use the restroom, on her way back she thought she saw movement so she turned on the lights in the upstairs hallway and saw three red-haired boys on her steps.

"Hooligans, what do you think you're doing?!" she yelled

"Are you Petunia Dursley?" One of the twins asked

"Yes and this is MY house so get out before I call the police" Petunia snapped furiously

"I'm Ron Weasley" Ron began "Harry's friend, we haven't heard from him ALL summer, WHERE IS HE?!"

"Gone" Petunia declared "He was adopted by the Masons, days ago. My family is finally through with you wretched freaks once and for all. Now GET OUT!"

By this point her shouting had roused Vernon from his bed

"What's all the yelling about?" he said groggily and then he noticed three red-headed boys who didn't belong

"HOOLIGANS, OUT OF MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW!" he yelled as his face turned purple

"Well, we came here looking for Harry" Fred said

"But since he's not here, we'll leave" George added and then began trying to climb the steps

"THE DOOR IS THAT WAY, IDIOTS" Vernon yelled pointed back down the steps

"Yeah, but our car isn't" George replied

"It's this way" Fred finished pointing in the exact opposite direction that Vernon had

"That's not my problem; you ruddy freaks are going to use the door like NORMAL people! I will not have any more of your unnaturalness in my house!" Vernon declared

"We can't get to our car by using the door" Fred said

"Which means that come morning it's going to be floating in midair RIGHT NEXT to your house" George added

"How are you going to explain that to your neighbors?" Fred asked

The Dursleys exchanged looks

"Fine" Vernon snapped "but be quick about it and don't you EVER show you freakish faces around here ever again."

"Freakish face, yeah look who's talking" Ron said

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"Vernon began

"Enough" Petunia declared "I'm tired, I'm cranky and I WANT to go back to sleep, so you three out and Vernon come back to bed."

"But-"Vernon protested, gesturing at the red-haired menaces

"NOW Vernon" Petunia ordered

"Yes, Pet" Vernon replied and followed his wife back into their bedroom.

The Weasley boys quickly climbed back into the car, hoping that their mum hadn't noticed they were gone…particularly since Harry wasn't along to shield them with his presence, Molly liked him.

_Meanwhile_

Molly Weasley was lying next to her sleeping husband and trying to fall asleep herself when she heard something tapping on the window. At first she tried to ignore it, but the tapping wouldn't go away and she didn't want Arthur to wake up so she slowly and carefully climbed out of bed and looked at the window.

She could barely make out the outline of owl with a letter attached to it,_ who sends mail at this time of night?_ She thought to herself and opened the window…hoping Arthur wouldn't wake up. He didn't or at least he didn't let on that he had. The owl began flying back to where it came from and Molly left the room, and shut the door quietly behind her.

Once she was in the hallway, she lit her wand just enough to enable her to read the envelope _Ron, open NOW it's urgent!_" it read, she thought she vaguely recognized the handwriting but couldn't remember whose it was. Her first instinct was to put at Ron's usual place at the table for him to read first thing in the morning, whatever it was could surely wait until then. However the envelope did say urgent so she decided to check and see if he was awake…and while she was at it, she might as well check in on all her kids (except Bill and Charlie, of course, they had moved out on their own) she had already done it once tonight but another one wouldn't hurt.

She came to Ginny's room first, Ginny was sound asleep in her bed, Molly smiled at the sight for a bit and then moved on. Percy's room was next and she found him sitting at his desk, working on his homework.

"Percy, what are you doing up this late?" she asked him

Percy jumped slightly, his mother had startled him "Oh, I couldn't sleep, decided I'd do something constructive."

Molly smiled again, why couldn't her younger boys be more like Percy she thought "well, I admire your dedication to academics but you do need your rest dear, try to get some sleep soon, okay?"

"Yes, mum" Percy replied obediently "I will"

"Good night, Percy dear" Molly said and shut the door.

She came to the twins' room and at first she thought they were asleep in their beds but when she pulled the covers of Fred's bed to check she found that instead of her son being under them the way he should be, it was just a bunch of clothes. George's bed had the same thing, now Molly was scared, two of her sons were missing, WHERE COULD THEY BE?! It wasn't the bathroom, she had passed it on her way up, the door was wide open and no one had been in it, besides, that didn't explain the piles of clothes or the fact they both were gone at the same time, Fred and George did most things together but not THAT.

Quickly she raced up the steps to Ron's room, only to find that he was gone too! She raced down the steps, no longer caring about not waking Ginny and Arthur. Ginny didn't stir but Arthur did. "Molly, could you keep it down?" he yelled groggily

Molly opened the door to their room and exclaimed "Arthur, the boys are missing"

Instantly Arthur Weasley was jolted awake "What?" he asked

"Ron and the twins, they aren't in their beds and they aren't downstairs, there's no light coming from down there, they wouldn't be sitting in the dark." Molly said

"Let's not panic Molly, maybe they left a note on the kitchen table or something." Arthur tried to soothe her, despite his own rising worry. Quickly they went downstairs but could not find anything to give them a clue as to where their sons had disappeared to. Even Molly's enchanted clock was not helpful, all three of their hands were pointing to traveling…Molly did take a bit of solace in the fact that said hands were NOT pointed at mortal peril, but not much. Abruptly she remembered the letter and immediately tore it open to read it

_Ron,_

_I don't know what your plan to rescue Harry is but DON'T DO IT! Harry isn't with the Dursleys' anymore, he's been adopted by some friends of my mum's, Jennifer and David Mason. They're muggles but they're good people and Harry seems happier already. _

_I know this because I just got off the phone with him, he says that there are two reasons why he never responded to any of our letters, number one is that the Dursleys' had poor Hedwig locked in her cage ALL summer and the second is that he never received them. Apparently some crazy house elf named Dobby was stopping all his mail because he thinks Harry will be in danger if he goes back to school. Harry thinks the elf is off his rocker but I don't know, I mean Hogwarts IS the safest place in Britain but with everything that happened last year, I'm not so sure._

_Anyway, the important thing is that Harry is safe and doesn't need rescuing anymore so DON'T GO TO SURREY!_

_Love,_

_Hermonie_

_P.S. I told Harry about our plans to meet in Diagon Alley to get our school supplies, he said he was going to ask the Masons for permission to meet up with us. I'll call him back tomorrow and see what they said._

"Surrey, they went to Surrey?" Molly said

"What?" Arthur questioned

Molly handed him the letter after reading it Arthur said

"Surrey, how did they think- THE CAR!" both Weasley parents raced out to the shed and sure enough when they arrived, the car was gone

"ARTHUR WEASLEY!" Molly screamed "I TOLD YOU ENCHANTING THAT CAR WAS A BAD IDEA AND NOW LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENED! IF THOSE BOYS DON'T MAKE IT HOME SAFE, IT'LL BE ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Arthur was at a loss for words, he'd NEVER meant for anything like this to happen, but it WAS his fault, he should have spelled the car so they boys couldn't use it, or at least remembered to keep the shed locked, that last bit was sheer negligence on his part.

Finally he found his voice "You're right Molly, I should have secured the shed better and I will, later. Right now, I am going to the Ministry, see if I can head off the storm. Stay here in case they come back."

Arthur then apparated away.

Molly meanwhile began a quick letter to Dumbledore, knowing that the leader of the light would want to know about Harry's adoption as soon as possible. Once that was done and Errol was on his way, she sat down to think about HOW she was going to punish those boys.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Albus Dumbledore walked into his hotel room, which had a lovely view of the Roman Coliseum. Albus was in Rome for the annual meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards (more commonly known as the ICW). The countries in the ICW took turns hosting the meeting and this year was Italy's turn and the Italians had decided to hold the meeting in Rome. He was very thankful that the ICW had its' meeting over the summer, while the students were not in school, it made it easier for him to attend while also being headmaster…although the task of looking for new defense against the dark arts professor was taking up more and more of his time each year.

He had just hung up his cloak, when an owl fell into the room. He recognized the old and feeble bird as Errol, the Weasleys' owl. He reached down and picked up the bird, he then placed him next to Fawkes' water bowl confident that the phoenix would not mind sharing. Errol let out a grateful hoot and began drinking. Albus then turned his attention to the letter that Errol had brought with him.

_Professor Dumbledore_, it began, Albus shook his head, he hadn't been Molly's professor in decades yet she still called him professor despite his attempts to get her to call him Albus, but she wasn't alone either, most people referred to him as professor Dumbledore. He supposed it came with the territory of being Hogwarts headmaster.

_Harry Potter has been adopted-_

That shouldn't have been possible, the ministry would have NEVER allowed anyone to adopt Harry; he'd made sure of that. The Malfoys had been fighting for custody ever since the deaths of James and Lily and with Narcissa and James' mother Dorea both being Blacks plus Lucius' policy of being prolific with his 'charitable contributions' they had very nearly succeeded. The only thing stopping them was the fact that Petunia was Lily's sister and thus had the strongest blood claim.

_By a pair of muggles called the Masons._

Muggles, that's how it happened. Albus was sorely tempted to smack his forehead, he had never even conceived of something like that happening. Unfortunately this would make returning Harry to the Dursleys' more difficult, the name Albus Dumbledore had no sway in the muggle world.

_He's now living with them. I don't know any more about who they are or where they live. I remember you saying that he was only safe with his aunt and uncle so I thought that I should let you know, in case you didn't know already. I don't want the death eaters to be able to find and hurt that poor boy. Please do whatever you can to keep him safe!_

_Molly Weasley_

_PS. Harry also says that he was told by a house elf that someone was planning to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts this year. He thinks the elf is barmy but as a mutual friend of ours would say CONSTANT VIGILANCE._

As for the warning about terrible things happening, Albus didn't think much of it. Hogwarts was the safest place in Britain. Last year's events had been carefully orchestrated both to A, lure Voldemort into the open and B; test the strength of Lily's protection. The students were NEVER in any REAL danger although he decided that he would tell the teachers to tell him if they noticed anything unusual.

Luckily for Albus, the ICW meeting was pretty much finished. There was a formal banquet scheduled for that night as a final farewell before the delegates departed to their respective home countries but it wasn't a big deal if Albus decided to skip it…he probably would not be the only delegate to do so either. Ultimately Harry was more important. So he wrote a quick note

_My honorable Italian Colleagues,_

_I regret to inform you that I will not be able to attend the banquet tonight. Something urgent has come up that requires me to return to Britain immediately. Please understand that this is in NO WAY a reflection of your abilities as hosts. Indeed your hospitality has been without equal and I sorely regret having to leave but duty calls, I am sure you understand._

_Regards,_

_Albus Perceval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

He had Fawkes deliver the letter to the head of the Italian delegation and once Fawkes returned from doing that, he had Fawkes phoenix fire them both to Privet Drive. Phoenix fire was by far Albus' favorite way to travel; it was the only form of magical transportation that didn't make him feel uncomfortable. Fawkes enjoyed doing it as well.

Petunia Dursley was weeding her garden…she had been thrilled to get rid of the boy although at the moment a part of her wished that he was still here, that way HE could be the one getting sweaty and dirty instead of her. Even so, as far as she was concerned their lives were far better without the freak around. She had just succeeded in pulling out a particularly stubborn weed when she heard a bizarre sound coming from behind her. She turned around and saw an absurdly dressed old man standing on her doorstep; obviously he was one of those freaks.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded furiously

"Mrs. Dursley, may I suggest we take this discussion inside?" Dumbledore said

Petunia's first instinct was to shout that she would NEVER have any freaks in her house again but one quick glance at the street was enough to curb that instinct. She'd die of shame if the neighbors learned just what her sister and nephew were.

"Fine, get inside, quickly" she growled out and then she rushed to open the door and usher Dumbledore through it.

"Mrs. Dursley" Dumbledore began once he was inside "I understand that Harry has been taken from you."

"Yes, and good riddance" Petunia replied "I don't know why the Masons decided they wanted the brat but they did and we're better off for it."

"How exactly did they take him?" Dumbledore asked

"Simple" Petunia said "we were having a business dinner with them a few nights back. The boy fell down the stairs and hurt himself. The Masons took him to the hospital and somewhere along the way decided that they wanted to adopt him. Mrs. Mason turned up with a couple of other people, I don't know who they were and I don't care either. She handed us some papers to transfer guardianship, we signed them and then she took the boy's things and left."

That explained why Albus could not feel the wards anymore and he should have felt them as soon as he stepped on the property. They would have fallen as soon as Petunia gave her nephew away willingly. He could re-erect the wards since Petunia was still Harry's blood relative but they would be MUCH weaker now, since he could not use Lily's sacrifice to empower them, it had been too long since Lily had been killed.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?!" he asked "You have put your family in grave danger. The magic that protected you from Voldemort and his followers was TIED to your nephew, as long as he lived here they could not hurt any of you, now that he is gone the wards have fallen and you are all vulnerable."

"Really, what would this whathisface, want with us. We are normal people not freaks." Petunia declared

"It is because you are muggles that they would come after you. They believe that those without magic are essentially animals fit only for slaughter and torture. Not to mention that your nephew caused Voldemort's downfall, they would take any chance to get their twisted revenge and for a wizard the best way to hurt someone is to hurt their family."

"He is no family of mine!" Petunia declared hatefully

"I am sorry you feel that way Petunia" Dumbledore said gravely "but it does not matter. You are the biological sister of Harry's mother and therefore he IS your blood whether you like it or not and that is all the Death Eaters need to target you."

Just then Vernon walked through the front door

"Pet- I'm ho- what the devil are you doing here?!" he said

"You must be Vernon Dursley" Dumbledore stated "I am here because I heard your nephew was recently adopted." "

Yes, and we're glad to be rid of the worthless runt." Vernon declared "if I wasn't the good man that I am, I would have chucked him straight into an orphanage. He's nothing but trouble, at least now he's causing problems for someone other than me."

"You are wrong Vernon Dursley. Young Harry is a credit to his family's name. He saved the Sorcerer's Stone from being stolen by Voldemort this last school year at great personal risk to himself. Also his very presence in this house has kept you and your family safe from Voldemort's followers for the past eleven years. However now that he is gone, the wards protecting your family have fallen and can never be put back the way they were."

"You used your freakish stuff on OUR house without even asking us, who do you think you are?!" Vernon shouted angrily

"I did what was necessary to keep all four of you safe. Now on that note, I need you to tell me everything you can about the Masons, who are they, where do they live, etc." Dumbledore declared

"Well, if it will make you bother them and leave us alone, fine." Petunia said "I don't know much about Mr. Mason but Mrs. Mason is respected lawyer, rumor says that she is absolutely ruthless in the courtroom."

Vernon meanwhile was digging through his wallet and finally found the business card that Mr. Mason had given him before. He then chucked it at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore blinked, he was startled by the action

"Mr. Mason runs a small construction company. His house is his office so the address on his card should be his home address, now go bother him and leave us alone!" Vernon yelled

Dumbledore picked the card up from the floor where it had fallen, read the address and apparated away.

Since it was Sunday, both of the Masons were home with Harry and the three of them were sitting in the living room playing a video game…well more accurately Harry and David were playing, Jen was having fun watching them.

Then the doorbell rang. Jen got up to answer it since she knew her boys wouldn't want to, they were too busy enjoying their game.

She opened and the door and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the man's bizarre wardrobe "can I help you?" she asked

"Yes, are you Mrs. Mason?" the man asked

"Who wants to know?" Jen replied suspiciously

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I heard that Harry Potter was recently adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Mason. I'm the headmaster of Harry's school." He explained

"Wait one moment." Jen said and then closed the door in the man's face. She didn't trust that man, it wasn't just the weird way he dressed either, her instincts were telling that this man was a snake and not to trust him farther than she could throw him.

"Harry" she said "there's a man at the door, he says his name is Albus Dumbledore, he claims to be your headmaster-"

"Professor Dumbledore is here?!" Harry asked in surprise "Why?"

"I don't know." Jen said "I wanted to be sure you actually knew him before I let him in." she then walked back to the door.

She opened the door and saw the old man was still standing there "Your story checks out so far" she told him "come on in"

By this point David had paused the game and he and Harry both turned around to greet the new arrival

"Harry my boy, good to see you" Dumbledore greeted "and you must be Mr. Mason."

"What brings you here?" David asked

"I heard that Harry had been adopted. I came to warn you that none of you are safe, if he is here." Dumbledore said gravely

"Are you threatening us?" David demanded

"No, not at all…how much do you know about Harry?" Dumbledore said

"If you are trying to find out if he's told us that he's a wizard, the answer is yes." Jen stated

"Has he also told you that he is famous?" Dumbledore asked

Jen and David just looked at him

"I'll take that as a no. It's understandable; the boy doesn't like his fame. You see eleven years ago, Wizarding Britain was being terrorized by a dark wizard called Voldemort. He killed dozens of powerful and respected witches and wizards but then on Halloween night he went after the Potters, young Harry and his parents. He killed James and Lily and destroyed their entire house but he failed to kill Harry and was himself destroyed in the attempt. He is the only person to have ever survived the killing curse and he destroyed the most feared dark lord in history." Dumbledore explained

"Is this true Harry?" Jen asked gently

"Yeah" Harry said "I wanted to tell you but I…didn't think you'd believe me."

"Harry" Jen said and she knelt in front of him "you are my son. I will ALWAYS believe you unless you give me a reason not to, which you haven't yet."

Harry just stared at her; he had no idea what to say to that.

"The reason Harry survived is because of Lily" Dumbledore continued "she gave her life to protect her son and that love saved him-"

"Do you really believe that?" David asked

Dumbledore looked at him, confused

"You CANNOT expect me to believe that Lily Potter was the first woman to die protecting her child and she probably won't be the last either and yet according to you no other person has survived this curse. So how does that work?"

"The counter charm that I believe Lily used is extremely ancient, so much so that it is almost forgotten. I have no idea where Lily learned it but the Killing Curse on the other hand is a far more recent innovation. It wasn't invented until the late 1800s; it's unlikely that the two magics had come into conflict until that night."

"What makes you think that Lily used this ancient charm? Jen asked

"It's the only thing I have ever heard of that could save someone who had been hit by the killing curse." Dumbledore replied "it also continues to protect him…or it did while he lived at the place where his mother's blood dwells but now I do not know how long that will last." Dumbledore replied

"Don't tell me you want us to send him back there?!" Jen exclaimed

"I do believe that would be the best thing-"Dumbledore began

"The best thing?!" Jen exclaimed furiously "they put him in the hospital at least once that I know of, probably injured enough that he should have gone several other times. He's never been to a doctor aside from the time we took him to the hospital-"

"That is not completely accurate" Dumbledore interjected not wanting to hear how the Dursleys had treated Harry; he wanted/needed to believe that whatever the Dursleys had done was not as bad as what Tom and his followers would do if Harry was vulnerable to them.

"Hogwarts' Healer Madame Promfrey is one of the best in her field and she saw Harry a few weeks ago."

"Why did he need to see a healer?" Jen asked assuming logically that healers were the magical equivalent of doctors

"There was an incident at school which resulted in him being sent to the hospital wing with a severe case of magical exhaustion. It was nothing life threatening, he just needed a few days bed rest and a couple of weeks without using magic. He should be perfectly fine now." Dumbledore replied reassuringly

"What kind of incident?" Jen asked

Dumbledore opened his mouth to tell her that it was nothing she needed to worry about but Harry spoke first

"Voldemort's spirit possessed a teacher and tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone." He said

"The what?" David asked

"That's possible?!" Jen exclaimed far more concerned about the idea of a spirit being able to possess people than whatever the Sorcerer's Stone was.

"The Sorcerer's Stone is a magical stone that can turn any metal into pure gold and produces the elixir of life which makes whoever drinks it immortal…temporarily anyway." Dumbledore explained "As for the possession, yes it can be done but its' extremely rare, very dark and HIGHLY illegal magic."

"What was an object like that doing in the school and HOW did a possessed teacher get in, aren't there magical shields or something to protect against this sort of thing?" David asked

Dumbledore was getting angry; he hated people questioning him, especially when those people were muggles with no real understanding of what they were talking about. He took a brief moment to mentally calm himself and then spoke "the stone was originally being kept in Gringotts, the wizarding bank however Nicholas Flammel, who is both the stone's creator and a close personal friend of mine believed that the stone was not safe in Gringotts and asked me to hold onto it for a little while until he was able to devise a better long term plan to keep the stone safe. It's a good thing he did too, because Voldemort broke into Gringotts and attempted to steal the stone just after the stone was removed."

"Are you telling me that your school is safer than a bank?" David asked

"Yes, it is. Hogwarts is the safest place in Britain. It's protected by wards dating back over 1,000 years." Dumbledore declared proudly

"Then HOW did a possessed professor get in?" Jen asked

"Professor Quirrell was the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor before he got possessed. He decided to spend the summer before this past school year in Albania to try and get some practical experience in his subject so he could be a better teacher to his students; unfortunately he encountered Voldemort's spirit there and became possessed. Since the Hogwarts wards already recognized Quirrell as a professor they were unable to prevent Voldemort's entry since he was using Quirrell's body."

"I trust the defenses are being updated to ensure such a thing can never happen again, right?" Jen asked

"It is being looked into." Dumbledore replied vaguely "now about Harry's guardianship-"

"Forget it, old man!" Jen snapped "the only way he is going back to those child abusing monsters is over my dead body!"

"Surely you exaggerate the situation" Dumbledore said patronizingly

Jen glared at him furiously

Dumbledore realized that he wasn't going to be able to convince the Masons to give Harry up voluntarily, plus he also needed to convince the Dursleys to take Harry back. He decided to retreat for now to plan a better strategy.

"I see we are not going to agree, so I will not take up anymore of your time. Good day to you all" he said and then he apparated away without even waiting for a reply.

"Harry, do you know a place where we can get books on wizarding law? I wouldn't put it past the old man to try and take you away from us." Jen asked

"There is a book store in Diagon Alley, they probably have some." Harry said "Ron and Hermonie want to meet there the day before school starts to get our books and things, we could go then."

Jen shook her head "I don't think it's a good idea to wait until the last minute to get your things, what if something happens and the store runs out of books? Besides, I want to get those law books as soon as possible, I want to be ready in case that guy tries to send you back to those….troglodytes." she had been going to say animals but changed her mind because she liked animals, it wasn't right to compare them to the Dursleys.

"Trogla-huh?" Harry asked

"Troglodytes" David repeated the word "It means cavemen, though I think calling the Dursleys cavemen is an insult to cavemen."

"Then what would you call them?" Jen asked

"Humanoid trash." David answered

Harry didn't say anything. He was torn on the one hand he wanted to defend Professor Dumbledore and yet, he couldn't understand WHY the man was so insistent on sending him back to the Dursleys. He had

only been with the Masons a few days but he knew he would be far happier with them than he had ever been at Privet Drive.

"Cheer up" Jen said, seeing the look on Harry's face. "We'll still take you to Diagon Alley on the last day of August to meet your friends. I'd like to meet them too."

"Thank you, but its' not that" Harry said "I just don't understand why Professor Dumbledore wants to send me back to the Dursleys. He knows how much they hate me."

"How did you end up there in the first place?" David asked

"Hagrid said that he brought me to them after my parents died, on Dumbledore's orders." Harry said

"Who's Hagrid?" Jen asked

"The gamekeeper at Hogwarts…I think he's part giant or something because he's by far the biggest man I've ever seen…I've seen light posts that are shorter than him." Harry said

"What gave him the right?" Jen demanded angrily "Who does he think he is, to decide what is best for everyone?!"

Harry didn't know the answer to that.

"How do we get to this Diagon Alley, place?" David asked

"There's a pub in London called the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley is through there. I know where it is, I can direct you." Harry said

"Good, then let's go…do the shops take pounds or do we have to go to this Gringotts place and exchange it for…whatever wizards use?" Jen asked

"I don't think Flourish and Blots will take muggle money. Gringotts is in Diagon Alley too so you can stop there first and exchange some money. If we are going to get my school supplies, I need to go down to my vault and get some more money anyway. I don't have enough in my trunk to pay for all my books and supplies."

"You have a vault?" Jen asked

"Yeah, I inherited it after my parents died" Harry said

"Do you know how much is in it? Did anyone teach you how to balance a check book… wait, do wizards even use checks?" Jen asked

"I have no idea, no and I don't think so." Harry answered

"What, do you mean you don't know?!" Jen exclaimed angrily "don't they send you monthly bank statements or something?!"

"No, I've never seen one." Harry said a bit fearfully Jen's anger was starting to scare him…whenever Vernon or Petunia got angry they hit him, even if it wasn't his fault.

"Well, someone's going to get an earful" Jen declared and then her face softened "Don't worry Harry; I'm angry for you not at you."

Harry nodded

"Let's go, we need to get to the bottom of this." David said

The three people packed into David's car and drove to London, once they got to London. Harry directed them to the Leaky Cauldron but when they got there Jen and David couldn't see it.

"Where is this place?" Jen asked

"Right in front of us." Harry said

"I see a music store and an apartment building but no pub" Jen said

Harry grabbed Jen's hand to show her and as soon as he touched her the leaky cauldron appeared right in between the other two buildings, seemingly out of nowhere.

Jen started visibly and then she said "Oh, now I see it"

"I don't" David declared

Harry didn't need to be told, he took David's hand like he had Jen's and sure enough the Leaky Cauldron appeared to him too.

"Magic" David muttered softly in wonder and the three of them went in.

"Hello folks" Tom greeted "how are you doing today?"

"Fine thanks" Jen replied

"Tom, could you open the way to the alley for us, I can't remember which brick I'm supposed to tap?" Harry requested, slightly embarrassed

"Not a problem, lad" Tom assured "happens all the time, follow me"

He led them through the back door to a brick wall.

"It's this one here" Tom indicated, taping the brick in question with his finger and then he pulled out his own wand and handed it to Harry

"Here, why don't you do the honors, Mr. Potter?"

Harry took the wand and tapped the brick with it.

The brick wall parted and turned itself into a large archway, leading to Alley that was a riot of color, witches and wizards in cloaks of all colors under the sun dashing to and fro along with the occasional muggleborn and family in muggle clothes.

"Gringotts is the big marble building there" Harry said pointing down the alley

The three then walked down the alley. Jen and David behaving a lot like Harry had his first time in the alley, trying to look at everything at once. Eventually they arrived at the bank and joined the line.

David noticed the strange inhuman looking creatures that appeared to be running the bank and whispered "What are they?"

"Goblins, they run Gringotts" he whispered back

When it was their turn, Jen approached the teller and said "We'd like to speak to Harry Potter's account manager."

"Who are you to make that request and do you have an appointment?" the goblin sneered

"Harry himself is here, my husband and I are his new guardians. We want to know why he has never received a bank statement or any other communication from Gringotts regarding his account and no, we don't have an appointment" Jen said

"Hmm, that is quite irregular. Very well, I will see if he has time to meet with you. Although in the future I recommend you send him an owl or floo call him to make an appointment." He then walked away

"Floo call?" Jen asked and looked at Harry

Harry just shrugged his shoulders; he didn't know what that meant either

A few minutes later the teller came back accompanied by another goblin.

"Hello, Mr. Potter" the new goblin said "I'm Talongrip, the Potter account manager. I'm afraid that I can't meet with you right now, I have another meeting to attend in five minutes but I am available after lunch today, if that works for you."

Jen took a brief minute to glance at her watch and saw that it was a little before elven "ok, how about we come back around 1:30ish?"

"That will be fine" Talongrip replied "see you then" he then left

"Sir" Harry began after he'd turned to face the teller again, the goblin near fell over in shock at being called sir by a wizard "can you take me down to my vault; I need to make a withdrawal?"

"I have to stay up here but Griphoook can take you" the goblin replied and then he "Griphook!"

Yet another goblin arrived

"I know you" Harry said "You're the goblin, who took me down last time I was here."

"Indeed Mr. Potter. I am surprised you remember me. Most wizards wouldn't bother." Griphook stated

"Why is that?" Jen asked curiously

"Simple, most wizards think of us as nothing more than beasts." The goblin declared angrily

"That can't be right" David said more to himself than anyone else "they wouldn't put beasts in charge of their gold. Besides you should never mistreat the people who look after your money, that's just asking for trouble." There were three groups of people his mother had told him to always try and be friends with, the people who feed you (i.e. Be nice to your wait staff, cooks etc.) the ones who protect you (security guards and such) and the ones who look after your money.

Griphook heard him and responded "You muggles must be new to the magical world. You'll find that wizards often chose not to use logic. Come then let's go."

He then led down to the mine carts and they quickly climbed into the first one in the line and went down.

"That was great!" Jen declared as they got off "It felt just like a mine-themed roller coaster!"

"I would have felt better if it had a seat belt or a least one of the rail things to hold onto" David grumbled

Jen ignored him

Harry then handed his key to Griphook who opened the vault for him

Jen and David were both shocked when they saw the piles of coins in the vault.

"All this is yours?" David asked softly…again not really intending for anyone to hear or respond

Again Griphook responded anyway "Actually, this is only his trust vault. The Potter family vaults are in lock-down until young Mr. Potter here turns 17. When that happens this vault will be closed and the remaining funds transferred."

"You mean there's more?" Harry asked

"Of course" Griphook replied "a lot more, the Potters are the third wealthiest family in Britain, after the Blacks and the Malfoys. Hasn't your magical guardian told you?"

"What's a magical guardian?" David asked

"Someone who acts in Loco Parentis-"

"What's Loco Parentis?" Harry asked

"A Latin term, it means in place of parents, it's most often used in regards to schools and their responsibilities/powers in regards to their students while they are at school." Jen explained

"Yes, exactly" Griphook agreed "a magical guardian, is essentially a witch or wizard who acts as a child's parent in situations where the child's actual parents or guardians are unable to. Most often its' when a muggleborn gets hurt or in very serious trouble and their parents can't go to Hogwarts since they are muggles so someone else gets called in, most often it is either one of the school's teachers or governors."

"I wonder if that's meddling old man" Jen muttered

"Knowing Albus Dumbledore, most likely" Griphook said "although Talongrip would know for sure."

David had picked up one of the bronze coins and was examining it, trying to figure out how much it was worth

Griphook noticed this and explained "that's a Knut, they are the least valuable of the coins, next are sickles, they are the silver coins and the most valuable are galleons, the gold ones naturally. 11 sickles are equal in worth to one galleon and 17 Knuts are equal to one sickle."

'I wonder who thought that was a sensible approach and what drugs they were on' David thought to himself but aloud he merely thanked Griphook for the information.

Shortly after that they left the vault and went back up to the main floor. Where Jen exchanged some of her muggle money for wizard money although the exchange rate was worse than she'd expected.

"By the way" she began "do wizards take debit cards, credit cards or checks?"

"What are those?" the teller asked

"Alternate methods of paying for things" Jen said and then she proceeded to describe each of the different things in detail while the goblin teller listened with ever increasing interest, there seemed to be a major potential for Gringotts and by extension the goblin nation to make a lot of money out of this and the ease of being able to pay for things without having to carry around a (potentially) heavy sack of gold would hopefully convince wizards besides those who were muggle raised to use them, thereby increasing Gringotts' profits from providing the service even more…yes, he could see himself earning a promotion or two out of this.

They then left the bank and headed to the bookstore.

Harry and David went around gathering up his school books while Jen browsed through the law section. She bought a self-updating copy of the Official Code of Law of Wizarding Britain, along with a couple of case law and explanatory books. She also bought an introductory book on wizarding culture that was aimed specifically at muggleborns, she didn't understand WHY Hogwarts didn't even suggest that the muggle-raised students get a copy when such a book was readily available. Lastly she bought herself one copy of Great Magical Events in the 20th century and An Appraisal of Magical Education around the Globe that she managed to conceal (with some difficulty) from Harry. She knew that Harry wouldn't want to leave his friends but she was not certain that remaining at Hogwarts was good for him.

Once they bought their books, they stopped in a Fortesue's for some ice cream before returning to Gringotts.

They had to wait for 10 minutes before Talongrip agreed to see them. Jen being an astute lawyer recognized the power play for what it was and told both of her boys not to let it get to them."Now then, what is this I hear about Mr. Potter not receiving his biweekly statements?" Talongrip said once they group arrived in his office.

"Exactly what it sounds like" Jen stated "he's never received any communication at all from Gringotts other than the two times he has been physically here."

"Is this true Mr. Potter?" Talongrip asked

Harry nodded

Talongrip growled something that the humans assumed was a goblin swear word and then said "Albus Dumbledore assured me that he would forward each of your statements to you, and that you had requested all communication be relayed through him, I take it he has not done that?"

Harry shook his head "I never said anything like that."

"Tell me he has at least told you about the lordship" Talongrip said

"Lordship?" Jen, David, and Harry all said together

Talongrip looked ready to smack his head into the nearest wall "Yes, lordship. The Potter family is one of the Ancient and Noble Houses in Wizarding Britain. Harry Potter will be expected to take the title of Lord Potter and the Potter seat on the Wizengamont when he turns 17."

"Wizengamont, is that like parliament?" Jen asked

"What's parliament?" Talongrip asked

"It's the legislative body of Britain" Jen declared, she was surprised that the goblin didn't know "It's made of two Houses, the House of Commons and the House of Lords."

"Then the Wizengamont is basically the magical equivalent except it has only one house instead of two."

"Why did no one ever tell me?!" Harry demanded

"I'm afraid I have no way of answering that Mr. Potter" Talongrip said

"Do you know if there is a way to find out if Dumbledore has been casting votes using Harry's seat?" Jen asked

"The Ministry of Magic's Department of Records contains the minutes of each session of the Wizengamont and a log of all votes, all you have to do is send an owl requesting a copy….although I believe it would better if you used Harry's name rather than your own. Although the Ministry has to provide the information to any witch or wizard who asks they can and probably would refuse a muggle."

Jen hmmed

"Do you know if the Potters had a will?" David asked the question had been bothering him for a while, from the information that Dumbledore provided it would have been criminally stupid in his view for them not to have had one.

"Well, the only official copy would be in the Department of Records however we here at Gringotts keep unofficial copies here as well. We almost always wind up getting involved with the monetary aspects of carrying them out so having a copy here makes it more convenient for us. Let me check my files." He then got up and began ritching around through his desk.

Eventually he shouted "Aha, found it!" and pulled a few sheets of paper from the very bottom drawer of his desk.

"Oh, that's unusual" He said as he began examining it.

"What?" Jen asked

"It seems the original has been sealed by the Ministry." Talongrip said

"Why would they do that?" Harry asked

"I don't know" Talongrip replied

"May we take a look at it anyway?" Jen asked

"Of course" Talongrip said and flipped it around and placed it on his desk so they could read it.

The print was a bit small and hard for the three of them to gather round so Jen decided to pick it up and read it out loud.

**I, James Charlus Potter declare myself of being of sound mind and body and I, Lily Marie Potter nee Evans, also declare myself of being of sound mind and body, we therefore do hereby makes this our last will and testament rendering null and void all other wills we previously made.**

**In the event that James is dead but Lily is alive everything we own goes to her and if Lily is dead but James is alive then everything we own goes to him. Should the both of us perish at the same time we leave the following bequests:**

**We declare that Peter Pettigrew was our secret keeper and if we are both dead then he must have betrayed us therefore he will receive nothing from us.**

**To Remus Lupin, we leave 1 million galleons and Moony if you EVEN think about trying to refuse it we WILL come back and haunt you, its' NOT charity its' a gift for being such a great friend to both of us. We also leave you the beach side cottage in Spain that you love so much**

**To Severus Snape, we leave all of Lily's potions research and her potions journals, Lily also wants you to know that she forgives you for what you said that day and she hopes that you will find your way out of the darkness.**

**To Sirius Black, we leave 1 million galleons, yes we know that you don't need the money but we leave it to you anyway, you were a great friend to us and so you deserve it.**

**Everything else we leave to our son Harry James Potter,**

**On that note, should our son be underage at the time of our deaths, we leave custody of our son to the following people in the following order.**

**Alice Longbottom- Harry's godmother along with her husband Frank Longbottom**

**Sirius Orion Black- Harry's godfather**

**Remus Lupin- We don't care if the Ministry objects, Moony would make a fine guardian for our son. If we had lived he would have been Harry's honorary uncle**

**Marlene McKinnon**

**Amelia Bones**

**Arthur and Molly Weasley**

"I could have grown up with Ron." Harry muttered softly. Jen continued as if he hadn't spoken

I**f none of the above people are available, then he should go to a wizarding family. We also declare that a stipend of 500 galleons a month be given from the Potter vaults to whoever gets custody of our son to pay for his upbringing. Lastly we declare that under NO circumstances should Harry be sent to Lily's sister**

**Petunia Dursley and/or her husband Vernon Dursley we do not believe they would raise our son with the love and care he deserves.**

**Signed this day, September 17th 1981,**

**James Charlus Potter and Lily Marie Potter nee Evans**

**Witnessed by:**

**Marcus Smith Attorney at Law**

**Albus Percevial Wulfric Brian Dumbledore**

Jen was so outraged she stood up and started screaming

"He KNEW, that miserable low-life son of a –"

David put a gentle restraining hand on her arm "Dear, I know how you feel but yelling obscenities in the bank isn't going to help anything and will probably get us thrown out."

With visible effort Jen managed to regain control of herself

"It's all right Mrs. Mason, I understand how you feel. However, the only thing I can do for you is suggest that you get yourself a lawyer…you could also try contacting Amelia Bones. She is the head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement and if this information is correct, they could be holding an innocent man in Azkaban."

Seeing that the three humans in front of him were completely confused Talongrip explained further "Alice and Frank Longbottom were tortured into insanity the week after the Potter's deaths they are currently in Saint Mungo's- the only magical hospital in Britain, long-term care ward unable to recognize their own son."

Harry had wondered why Neville lived with his grandmother but had never thought to ask, and now he was in some ways grateful that he hadn't, he didn't want to bring up any bad memories but he was feeling guilty because he knew that he and Neville were not as close as their parents would have wanted, he resolved to try and befriend Neville more this term.

"Sirius Black is another story. The day after the death of your parents, he and Peter Pettigrew confronted each other in a muggle street. Peter shouted that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James and then one of them fired a blasting curse that blew a massive hole in the street. Sirius wound up with a concussion and several nasty looking bruises while Peter Pettigrew was destroyed, the only bit of him that was ever found was a finger. It was assumed that Sirius Black was the Potter's secret keeper since he was James Potter's best friend and most of his family were death eaters or at least suspected of it."

"Secret Keeper?" Jen asked

"The Potters hid themselves behind a Fidelius Charm, its' a complex piece of magic that hides a secret within a person, as long as that person doesn't tell anyone the secret that the information is completely safe. The Potter's house and its' location were hidden under the Fidelius, the only way that Voldemort could have found them is if the Secret Keeper either told him directly or if the Secret Keeper themselves wrote it down and Voldemort managed to read it." Talongrip explained

"Sirius was a decoy" Jen realized "The Potters knew that he would be the person everyone would expect so they let people assume that while actually using this Peter guy. Sirius of course, would have known that he didn't betray anyone so he went after the guy who did and he wound up getting framed."

"An interesting theory but it will be very difficult to prove." Talongrip said

"But why-the will clearly says that Peter was the Secret Keeper" Harry protested

"True, but its' only an unofficial copy so legally this version carries as much weight as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Jen said "the only copy of the will that means anything in legal terms is the one that's been sealed by the ministry and getting it unsealed will probably take months, if not years…but my question is, why didn't this come out Sirius' trial?" Jen explained

"I'd like to know that too…I knew both Sirius Black and James Potter and the idea that either could have ever betrayed the other has always been difficult for me to understand."

"Talongrip, are trial records available at the Ministry Department of Records and if so are they open to the public?" Jen asked

"I assume so" Talongrip said "on both counts."

"Any ideas on how we can get Dumbledore removed as Harry's magical guardian?" Jen asked

"Well, first you would have to prove malfeasance or negligence on Dumbledore's part and that won't be easy. Albus Dumbledore is widely regarded as hero for his defeat of the Dark Lord Grindelwald back in the 1940s."

"Couldn't you testify to his dealings with Harry's Gringotts account?" Jen asked

"I could, if thought that it would do any good. Unfortunately wizards would never believe the word of a goblin against a wizard, in fact its' illegal for a non-human to testify against a wizard in the wizarding court of law."

"But that's not fair!" Harry protested "just because you aren't human doesn't mean that you're not sentient. It doesn't mean you're evil or stupid or anything else, it just means your biology is a different from ours."

"A view that your mother and father both shared" Talongrip said "but unfortunately one that is laughed at by most wizards in Britain, especially the Pure-bloods."

"Pure-bloods?" David asked

"Yes, wizards who can trace their ancestry back 10 generations or more and find only wizards and witches there. No muggles, muggleborns, half-bloods or magical creatures. They hold most of the power in British Wizarding society and the majority of them are highly provincial at best, outright bigoted at worst."

"Like Malfoy" Harry muttered

"Yes, the Malfoy family has been known for touting their superiority for their pure-blood for generations…although it may please you to know that as a Potter, you outrank them." Talongrip said

"I do?" Harry asked

"Yes, the house of Potter is one of the original 24 Ancient and Noble houses of Wizarding Britain. They are the old noble families who ran the country for centuries until the modern ministry was formed and they still hold seats on the Wizengamont. Each one of them can trace their British ancestry back to Roman times or earlier. There are a few other families, like the Weasleys who can trace their ancestry back that far but they were never noble-"

"Hey, they're great people; my best friend is a Weasley!" Harry protested

"Peace, heir Potter. I never meant to imply that they aren't good people, I simply meant that they have never held a noble title." Talongrip responded

"Ohh" Harry said feeling a little silly

"So the Weasleys then are an Ancient house but not a Noble one. The Malfoys are the exact opposite" Talongrip continued

"That's the truth" Harry muttered

Talongrip smirked a bit "Indeed, the Malfoys are French originally. They were nobles in the service of William the Conqueror and accompanied him when he arrived from Normandy. So they are a Noble house but not an Ancient one…now any other questions?"

"Yes, that bit in the will about a stipend for to pay for Harry's upbringing, can you see if that part was followed?"

"One moment" Talongrip said and pulled a ledger of the shelf "this ledger records all transactions from the Potter Family Vault, if that stipend was paid it will be shown here."

Sure enough the ledger recorded -500 galleons converted into pounds and deposited in a muggle bank account belonging to Vernon and Petunia Dursley there were transactions like that every month from November of 1981 to the current month.

"Seriously, after all those speeches about how I cost them so much money to keep, the DEFINTELY did not spend that much on me."

Judging from the state of heir Potter's clothes Talongrip had no problem believing him.

"Talongrip, is there any way for Gringotts to provide testimony in a muggle court of law?" Jen asked

"…I am not certain, we do have occasional dealings with muggle banks however I do not believe Gringotts has ever been involved with a muggle court, why do you ask?"

"I am planning to take Harry's former guardians to court for child abuse, with this I can get them for malfeasance to." Jen said with a dangerous gleam in her eye

"You don't have to do that" Harry protested

"Oh yes, I do" Jen countered "they abused you and mistreated you for years. I will die before I let them get away with it, besides I doubt you're the only person they've hurt, do you really want to risk letting them hurts others as well?"

Harry thought about all the kids that Dudley had bullied over the years, which was pretty everyone in the neighborhood that was not part of his gang and how Vernon and Petunia did nothing to stop it. Although he STILL didn't want all the details of his treatment to come out. Jen and David knew a little bit and that alone was enough to make Jen angry enough to spit nails, he didn't want to know what she would do if she learned about the cupboard or the starvation.

"I will try to make sure that you don't have to testify Harry" Jen said gently knowing that it was very hard for abused kids to confront their abusers even in the (relative) safety of a courtroom. "but they ARE going to be tried, that's non-negotiable"

"…we do employ a few wizards, some of whom are muggleborn, one of them could probably present the evidence. I will have to discuss this with the Bank director…you are certain they are child abusers?"

"Absolutely" Jen declared "and I am going to prove it."

"Very well, I will see if Gringotts can help. There are very few things we goblins hate more than thievery but child abuse is one of them. In the meantime, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not at the moment" Jen said "if you'll excuse us, we have a letter to write" Jen said

"Wait, I do have one question" David said the others turned to look at him "Dumbledore circumvented the will so obviously he wouldn't have spoken up but the other guy knew they had a will, why didn't he say something?"

Talongrip took the will from Jen so he could look at the name. "Marcus Smith, he died about a week after this, suffered a heart attack in his sleep I believe"

"Okay, so I guess we can't be mad at him." David said

"Anything else I can answer for you?" Talongrip asked

Jen and David both shook their heads and then all three of them left.

Once they returned home Jen and Harry sat down to write the letter while David went to his office because he had some work he needed to do.

It took a couple of drafts before they came up with one they were satisfied with

_To the Ministry Department of Records:_

_My name is Harry Potter, I am writing to request a couple of documents from you. First I would like to see a record of all votes taken in the Wizengamont since my parent's deaths. Since my family has a seat on the Wizengamont I would like to learn what kind of things I am going to be voting on in the future._

_I would also like a copy of Sirius Black's trial transcript, I have just recently learned that he is the one who betrayed my parents and I want to know why. May I get that from you or is that through the DMLE?_

_Thank you for your help,_

_Harry Potter_

"there short, sweet and it doesn't say any more than we need to." Jen said "Dumbledore probably has allies in the ministry therefore we have to make this look like merely a coincidence and not a conspiracy against him."

"A conspiracy?" harry asked

"Well, we ARE trying to change some of the things he has done, to a suspicious mind that could be labeled a conspiracy." Jen said "Now how do we get it to the Ministry?"

Just then Hedwig appeared at the window

"Hey girl" Harry greeted her "are you up for making a delivery?"

Hedwig hooted in response

"Can you take this to the ministry department of records, its' important." Harry said

Hedwig hooted again and stuck out her leg so Harry could attach the letter, once it was secure she took off

"Nothing to do now but wait" Jen said .


End file.
